Counting Twenty Years of Blessing

LEARNING TO BLOW OUT THE CANDLE ON HER 1st BIRTHDAY

I have been thinking long and hard about this post. A few weeks ago, my daughter turned twenty. As a tribute, I am going to share twenty things about her:

1. The first thing I think of when I think of my daughter is her beautiful brown eyes. She is blessed with eyes which show compassion, determination, laughter, understanding, and the odd time of confusion.


2. My daughter has a steely determination. When she has decided on something, she will work on it, until she gets it. One of the stories that illustrates this, is when she wanted to take her bird for show and tell in Grade Three. We were against the idea. We told her that the bird would die from the shock of being moved and poked at by the other children. But it was the "ONLY THING" she could think of to take to show and tell. In spite of our other suggestions, she was determined that the bird would be the "ONLY THING" which would guarantee her success that day. So her Dad told her that if she wanted to take it, she would have to get the cage down herself. She was too short to reach the top of the cage, but she worked for a whole hour to get it down using a variety of tools. She finally experienced success with a broom handle. She took the bird to school, and much to our chagrin, the bird did not die from the shock of being moved and poked at by the other children. Like I said, STEELY DETERMINATION.


3. My daughter is a talented athlete. Her Dad gave her the nickname "Tiger" on the soccer field. If she got hurt by another player, she would get mad, and usually would do something spectacular to show the other player that she was not afraid of a little 'owie'.


4. Her main sport is Soccer. Her Dad coached her every year until she was finished U-18. Now they are both on the same mixed-league team. They have a friendly competition every year to see who can score the most goals. I try not to get in the middle of that competition. They are both first-borns.


5. She also played as many other sports as she could in high school; some on teams, and some just for fun at lunch - Basketball, Volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, Football, Rugby, . If she got a penalty shot, I would usually yell out "FIVE BUCKS" and if she got the shot in, she knew it was worth 5$.


6. My daughter enjoys music. She took piano lessons. And voice lessons. And clarinet. What pleases me most, is that she uses music as a therapeutic tool. Sometimes, she will sit down at the piano and play just for fun.


7. When she was little, we would play tapes in the vehicle with with kid's music. My daughter would sing the songs in perfect pitch. The lyrics were another matter. She would substitute all manner of words into the tempo of the music. LA LA LA!


8. She never liked it when her Dad and I would hug. She always squeezed into the middle so she wouldn't be left out.


9. My daughter is a high achiever. She goes after goals with the same steely determination that she used to take the bird to show and tell. She has won speech contests, gotten bursaries for higher education by taking part in a year-long achievement challenge. She has been 'student of the month', won numerous awards for academics and athletics. It makes my head spin (and swell with motherly pride).


10. She is blessed with insight. Sometimes she will make a comment which is so perfect, it should be framed.


11. My daughter is a very thoughtful person. When she sees someone is hurting, or needs a little encouragement, she will write a note, or drop by with a Starbucks. She will bring flowers "just because".


12. My daughter doesn't like to follow recipes. She likes to experiment with ingredients. No two recipes are the same. This made for some taste tests which were entered into very gingerly.


13. She told the principal of the elementary school "Sometimes my mommy doesn't cook for us and we have to 'defend' for ourselves. Could you teach us cooking so that when I have to 'defend' for myself, I will know how to do it?"


14. My daughter has been through some very deep waters. She has had to deal with a great amount of grief, and pain, even though she is young. She has weathered storms greater than what she should have had to face.


15. My daughter has a very strong faith. When she was three, she asked Jesus "to be her friend forever" and she has counted that friendship very dear to her in all circumstances.


16. She is the only girl. Living with three other males in the house has toughened her up. She has always taken her responsibilities towards her brothers very seriously. They haven't always appreciated her efforts.


17. I used to call her my 'little cruise director'. She always wanted to know what was going on. And what was going on after that? And after that? Here's your schedule darling....


18. She has a very good memory. If I ever had to remember something, I would tell her, because I was assured that she would remember it and would remind me.


19. I look forward to hanging out with my daughter. Even if it is going on errands, we can usually make it into something fun - by going through a drive-through on our way, or trying on shoes before we buy groceries. She is good company.


20. When she was born, my mother gave me a card which said something like: "Now that you hold your daughter in your arms, you have a better idea of how special it was for me to hold you".

I want to thank my daughter for coming into our lives. You have enriched us in more ways than you can imagine. Love you so much,

MOM